Exchange
by PrincessAmerica101
Summary: Raphael forces the Seal of Orichalcos on Yuugi, without the card being voluntarily played. As a result, the darkness within Yuugi Mutou is unleashed, rather than the darkness in the Pharaoh, and the pieces left behind must be put back in place. (Heavily implied Puzzleshipping)
1. Chapter 1

"Guardian Kay'est attacks your set monster and destroys it. Because of the effect of Crystal Seal, he then attacks your life points directly."

The Pharaoh held up his arms and braced himself for the incoming attack, but that didn't lessen the blow at all.

It was the ninth turn of the duel, and he could already sense that it was fast coming to a close. His life points dropped fast, from 2200 to 1200, and he only had one card in his hand—a card that did him no good now.

 _/Partner, this isn't looking so good./_ The Pharaoh thought towards his friend, a twist of regret deep in the pit of his stomach. Professor Hawkins, Rebecca's home—both of them were victims of this man's attack. Rebecca had run _crying_ to them, throwing herself on Yuugi's chest, begging Yuugi to save her grandpa, to help bring him back. How could they do this to her...? Come back empty-handed this way? Raphael had no problems taking souls, who knew what he would do with Professor Hawkins when he was done...?

 _/We can do this./_ He felt a reassuring push back from Yuugi, a mental touch on his shoulder. _/We've never lost when we worked together./_

It was true—but glancing at the frozen form of Dark Magician Girl didn't help any. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, and readied himself to draw again, but—

"I'm not finished, Nameless Pharaoh." Raphael interrupted, snapping him out of his thoughts as he turned back towards the Guardian Duelist in confusion. "I activate the magic card, Exchange. This forces us both to exchange one card with the other, and if we can play the card, we must immediately use it."

The hand not holding Necromancy tightened, but the Pharaoh held his chin up as he held it up, and threw the card at Raphael, who caught it without any trouble. Looking back down at the card he was given; the Pharaoh was immediately rocked with horror.

The Seal of Orichalcos.

"Do you like the new addition to your hand?" Raphael asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "You heard what I said, Nameless Pharaoh. You have to play the card."

 _/No!/_ Yuugi protested in horror, and the Pharaoh nodded, anger rising on his tongue.

"This is dangerous!" He argued. "We could stop the duel right now, if you would just give back Professor Hawkins! You don't have to bet your soul on this!"

"Sounds to me like you're just stalling for time. These are the rules of the game, Nameless Pharaoh. I can let you read the card, if you'd like." To emphasize his point, he peeled Exchange from the rack of his Duel Disk, held it out, and returned it. "I play Necromancy, and four of your monsters are summoned back to your side of the field." As he spoke, Big Shield Gardna, Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts, Berfomet, and Kuribabylon were all summoned back to Yuugi's side of the field, fulfilling his end of the magic card's requirements.

 _/But Other Me.../_ Yuugi's voice was quiet, halting, and the Pharaoh knew that he was afraid of the card—afraid of what it could do. The Pharaoh shook his head.

 _/We have never lost when we worked together./_ He turned the card over in his fingers, and he shivered when he could feel it—the same, heavy weight that had been on him since he put the stone around his neck. Yuugi's hesitation grew, and his apprehension with it, until he was hesitating, the card just above the tray, only mere inches from the hi-tech, glossy board.

 _/Not when we're together. So, I can't let you do this alone./_

 _/Partner-?/_

There was a sudden, violent shove in the back of his mind—a harsh push that jerked the Pharaoh hard by his waist, grabbing him and yanking him, down until he was forced into his Soul Room. He gasped when he hit the stone floor, realizing what Yuugi had just done, and he got up quickly, immediately throwing the door open as he tried to get back to the surface, reaching up for Yuugi.

 _/PARTNER!/_

Yuugi shut his eyes, and pressed the card into the tray.

The Eye of Horus—the Eye ever-present on his forehead even when it couldn't be seen, the symbol of his divinity as the Chosen Vessel and Reincarnation of the Nameless Pharaoh—was shattered and overrun by the Seal the instant it was placed into the Duel Disk. The unearthly Seal's insignia was drawn onto him instead as the magic circle expanded from his feet, encircling his monsters and trapping them all inside.

Yuugi Mutou dropped to his knees.

The Seal, when it was played—he could _**hear**_ it, then, a thick layer of white _**noise**_ overtop his thoughts, a constant _**push**_ against his mind. The Puzzle glowed around his neck, brighter and brighter and _**brighter**_ as darkness burst from the Eye of the Item, thick _**tar**_ that ran down the pyramid and dripped in black and _**gold**_ around his feet.

His hands raised to his ears as he tried to push it away, tried to block _**it**_ out, but he could _hear_ something—something being set _loose_ inside him when the Seal pushed it back, when the Seal locked-down his shadow, his Other Self, the one who had taken all of the darkness before.

Some part of Yuugi vaguely remembered that alters were created to take the pain and trauma and darkness inside of the main personality, but the Pharaoh wasn't an alter, he was a real person.

A real person who had absorbed the darkness—that _**thing**_ inside of the Puzzle, inside of all of the Items—so that Yuugi didn't have to. That thick layer of _**something**_ that had blocked who the Pharaoh was before, twisting and warping and _**digging**_ —pushing clawed fingers down into Yuugi's soul as the chain of the Nameless Pharaoh was thrown-off, his Other Half completely pure and untouched by darkness, a perfect feast for all.

The purest light was the easiest to corrupt.

" _ **PARTNER!"**_ Pharaoh cried, banging on the door of his Soul Room, pulling on the handle desperately. It was gone, the darkness in his labyrinth was gone. The ever-present slick, black mold lining the walls, all of it was gone. The Pharaoh hardly noticed when his tanned, gold-ringed hands were the ones grabbing at the door, he only pounded on it harder. "Yuugi, _**YUUGI!"**_

Slowly, the tiny King of Games shifted his weight from his hands and knees, and got to his feet.

"You've just made a huge mistake." He whispered, a smile spreading across his lips as he looked back to Raphael. His chest heaved, heart pounding. Power— _ **power**_ , yes, he could _**feel**_ it as it flooded his limbs, singing black and gold in his blood as his shadow splashed up against the walls of the Seal. Gods, it was so much, and it was _**intoxicating**_.

He needed _**more**_ of it. It was just a taste, but he knew he could get more. Eyes darting down to the Millennium Puzzle, he grabbed it, his smile widening. He knew what his Other Self could do—he'd seen his Penalty Games after Death-T. _He_ was the one who solved it, that meant that _he_ was entitled to the power in the Puzzle. He could release all of the power in it if he wanted to, couldn't he? _Yes, he could...just follow my lead..._

"I draw." He licked his lips in anticipation. "And I play Card of Sanctity, so both of us draw until we have six cards in our hands." He didn't even notice, nor care about the 200 points of damage dealt to him from Dark Magician Girl and Chimera in the graveyard, dropping his life points to 1000. He had all the power in the world now. A silly card couldn't change that, not from this _mortal_. "Because the Seal of Orichalcos changed Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight's attack points, she's freed from her Crystal Seal, and ready to attack you!"

"Nice try." Raphael said his voice impassive as the crystal on the dragon began to crack. "But the Eye of Timaeus doesn't do well with the Orichalcos." Raphael gave a little shrug as the dragon gave out a cry, before immediately becoming stone, and then cracking into pieces. Dark Magician Girl jumped down from the dragon in shock, before looking back at Yuugi, her green eyes widening.

Yuugi ground his teeth together, then looked back towards the Puzzle again, feeling the deafening pounding from his parasitic roommate in the gold. No—he wasn't going to do this anymore. He wasn't going to rely on someone else to do this for him. _**He**_ had solved the Millennium Puzzle, _**he**_ was the one who helped summon Magician of Black Chaos, _**he**_ was the one who had opened up his body for the spirit. He didn't want to be rescued anymore—he _**deserved**_ some of that power, and he wasn't about to let _**anyone**_ stop him.

He'd been pushed around _**enough**_ —he was always the _victim_ , always _bullied_ , and he was _sick of it_. He was the _real_ King of Games, he was the one who was _alive_ , not anyone _else_.

He didn't _**ask**_ for any of this. The magic, the spirits, the Millennium Items. But if they were going to _**force**_ it on him, then they were going to regret every _**second**_ of it.

"Partner." The Pharaoh whispered, hands flat against the door while he watched from their severed mind link. "Partner, this isn't you. This isn't..." He was his _**light**_ , it couldn't have...not _Yuugi_ , he couldn't let it take _Yuugi!_

"I move all of my monsters back into my spell and trap card zone, then I tribute Gazelle and Berfomet in order to summon the Dark Magician."

The two beasts, rather than fading into pixels, were completely engulfed by the darkness that pooled around Yuugi's feet from the bleeding Eye of the Puzzle, crying-out as the shadows pulled them under the swarm of black. Raphael took a step backwards. He'd never seen the Seal act like this before, not even under the most wicked of criminals before. What _**was**_ this?

The Dark Magician was summoned from the shadows in their place, having to rip itself free of hands that grabbed at it before taking its place among its fellow monsters. "Then I activate Kuribabylon's effect to remove it from play and summon the Kuriboh brothers, before using their effect to summon Kuribabylon again. Now—Other Me, _I need your help!"_

The mind link was suddenly forced-open again, hands reaching across their severed bond, and for a moment the Pharaoh was hopeful that Yuugi had been able to fight back against the darkness of the Puzzle and of the Seal at once.

As the door was opened, all he saw was his partner—but it wasn't his partner at all. He knew that wasn't his soul.

He knew that was someone else wearing his face.

Hands reached for him, fingers shoved straight into his chest, cold and sharp and digging. He gasped openly in shock as his soul was seized, and he doubled-over. The figure went with him, hands never leaving the precious heart he held in his hands.

"Can't have you interfering or holding me back anymore." The thing taunted, its voice familiar and not. It was white static against the Pharaoh's mind, the very presence of the voice feeling like corruption under his skin. The Pharaoh stared up, towards the real Yuugi, wide-eyed.

"Please, Partner, listen to me!" He tried. "It's controlling you, it's-!"

His heart was twisted, and he choked on it, falling-over again to the floor.

"You're not needed here anymore."

The Pharaoh choked on darkness welling in his mouth.

" _Now, feel the power of the Dark One, and the power of the Orichalcos!"_

The screams were deafening.

The Pharaoh screamed with them—the pain of having the darkness curl up and nest in your soul after clawing its way in, piece by piece. Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl both clutched at their heads, openly crying-out in pain, before the Seal was opened on them—former holders of the Millennium Ring both more than familiar with the voices in their heads.

Kuribabylon attacked and destroyed viciously, while the darkness made its way up the walls of the Seal, completely drenching the unearthly magic in darkness while Raphael was thrown against the walls. It made its way up to his waist, lapping at him while Yuugi stood atop a rock, looking-down from his pedestal at the Guardian Duelist, who barely made it to his next turn.

"I activate Swords of Revealing Light, and Monster Rebirth to return my Guardian Grarl to my deck. Then I set a card and end my turn."

" _ **YUUGI!"**_ Jou's voice called, just as Yuugi drew Catapult Turtle, and a plan was born. The Gambling Duelist stopped-short, seeing not only the Seal of Orichalcos in play, but the thick layer of blackness that surrounded the two, almost completely covering the Seal, if not for the dome it made.

"What...what is that stuff?" Honda asked. "Is that some kind of Shadow Game? But why would there be a Shadow Game AND a game with the Seal?"

"I don't know..." Jou said, taking half a step back. "I don't think those creeps have any of the Items, though. Can't only they make Shadow Games?"

"The Pharaoh, maybe?" Honda asked. "But why would he do that?"

"I have no idea..."

"I sacrifice Big Shield Gardna to play Catapult Turtle."

"And I activate Limit Tribute, so you can't activate its effect." Raphael interrupted.

" _Tch_...your turn."

The Pharaoh recognized the move in the Puzzle, and horror developed further in him when he remembered those screams, and he knew where they came from. Looking back up at the copy of his Other Self, he knew what it wanted—what it wanted to do to Yuugi. "I won't let you." He promised. "I won't let you have him!"

"But I already have."

With Raphael's Nightmare Binding preventing him from tributing Kuribabylon, and with Swords of Revealing Light still in play, Yuugi made the logical choice—Dark Magician. The dark sorcerer didn't hesitate in following his young master's order, as his soul existed to serve, no matter the circumstances. "Now that he's _useless_ , at least he can power-up Dark Magician Girl, and take your life points!"

"No— _no!_ partner, you can't!" He remembered the Dark Magician throwing himself in front of Pandora's Dark Magician to protect him, how he guarded his soul room from trespassers, how he smiled at the Pharaoh when he said he had complete faith in him. "He's our friend! You can't hurt him! This isn't like you!" His mentor, his friend, _Maha-_

The Dark Magician fired himself, and Raphael took a heavy hit, dropping down to his knees. The darkness lapped at his chin, and he quickly stood himself back up again.

Across from him, the small duelist watched with a cold gaze.

His shadow had three, red eyes, and a jagged smile.

Raphael only set a card.

"Next, I'll tribute my Dark Magician Girl."

"Dark Magician Girl...?"

She had green eyes, then, and she smiled at him, and the Pharaoh pulled himself free with effort, doubled-over. _Mana, Mana! Not Mana!_

"No, not her!" He cried. _**"Please, not Dark Magician Girl!"**_

Tears fell from her eyes when the dark witch sacrificed herself, though less than half the damage was inflicted. 100 life points remained. Yuugi set another card.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time." The copy admitted. "And I've wanted _**this**_ for a long time."

The Pharaoh lay on the ground, shutting his eyes.

Raphael drew, and used his Celestial Sword to summon Guardian Eatos, and sent its sword to the graveyard.

"I won't let you have him." The Pharaoh promised. "I love him too much. You can't take him from me."

"I already have."

"Now, I remove from play all of your heartlessly sacrificed monsters, to increase my Guardian Eatos's attack by each one of your monsters' attacks!" Raphael said. "Look at all of them—all of the hurt that you've caused them!"

Yuugi's gaze slowly lifted, as the darkness finally reached his feet from the rock he stood on, where the darkness had reached Raphael' chest.

He saw Dark Magician Girl.

"Guardian Eatos, attack his Kuribabylon! Judge him for this! Attack, and end this duel!"

Yuugi raised his arms over his face.

* * *

 **A/N:**

If the anime can fuck with card effects, so can I.

But seriously-I have one of three endings I can't decide on.

1.) Yuugi activates Magic Cylinder, Raphael's soul is taken, Yuugi and Yami deal with Yuugi's horror together with no rematch, and the added bonus of killing a man.  
2.) Yuugi activates Secret Blast, both of their life points hit zero, Yuugi and Yami deal with Yuugi's horror together with a rematch.  
3.) Yami sacrifices himself, and Yuugi deals with it alone.

What do you guys want?


	2. Chapter 2

" _ **Guardian Eatos, attack his Kuribabylon! Judge him for this! Attack, and end this duel!"**_

Yuugi raised his arms over his face.

The beautiful, winged angel with the fearsome eyes swung her blade, and within a single attack, Yuugi could feel it—all the pain that he had inflicted on his monsters in a thousand white-hot lashes across his body, across his soul. Striking him with ferocity, iron brands across back. What he had done to them. The sacrifices he had made using the souls of his friends. _What he had done to Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl._

 _Why? Why did he do all of that? Why did he...?_

The darkness rose from the ground, a slow boil from the earth from where it had perched itself on the walls. Surging inwards where his monsters had tread, he could feel all of it then—rushing back into him, back into the Puzzle as the game ended. Each second was like feeling it all over again, the pain he'd shared when he'd solved the Millennium Puzzle the first time, and his soul was branded by the Puzzle. The pain of being trapped in the darkness. It seared him, feeling like his very being was being set ablaze, and he cried-out a second time, openly, head thrown back as he grabbed his arms, as the darkness settled into gold.

He didn't even realize he'd been carrying it for so long. He didn't even feel it the first time he had solved the Puzzle.

It couldn't have...it couldn't have come from him, _could it?_

But it had been true. Everything had been true. What he'd felt before. What he'd said before. He didn't want to be left-behind, while his Other Self was always his goal. He wanted to join him by his side. He didn't want to be a victim, he didn't want to always need to be rescued. He wanted all of that. It couldn't have been a lie, if it was all true.

He stood there, standing, staring at the ground where the darkness had vanished, shaking. It was all true. It was all a part of him. All of this was a part of him, all along.

"Yuugi!" Jou cried, from across the little island everyone was watching from—he hadn't even noticed that they'd been there before. He hardly even noticed now. "Yuugi, you have to get out of there! You know what happens when you lose! You know-!"

 _It was time to move._

The Seal lit-up as the duel ended. Yuugi, still recovering from the massive power that used his body as a tool, looked-up as Raphael approached him, the projectors in his duel disk only then beginning to shut off. "Time to pay-up, little King. The Seal never leaves the field without taking a soul. And this time, it's you. Now, become a part of the Great Beast."

 _He couldn't let this happen!_

The Seal began to close as Raphael watched, and Yuugi took a few deep breaths as his mind cleared, the darkness returning to the inside of the Puzzle, where it had been imprisoned all this time.

This was okay. Yuugi knew, if they lost, that the Pharaoh could still save the world. He put his hand on the Puzzle peacefully and shut his eyes. He waited for the end to come.

The Pharaoh would always save him. He trusted in his friend, more than he trusted anyone in the world. His Other Self could do anything. He was amazing. He was the one who would save the world. That was the Pharaoh's destiny, not his. Timaeus chose him, and even if Yuugi had ruined it this time by being in his way, then he could still save the world.

That would be Yuugi's contribution. He was fine with that.

 _No! Not him! He doesn't deserve this! This wasn't his fault! The Seal tricked him! This isn't right! /This isn't your price to pay! This is your body, your life! You deserve to live! Partner, fight!/_

The Pharaoh's fist hit the door again. Eyes blinding red with will, stronger than he'd ever felt before.

 _ **/I won't let him take you! I won't let anyone take you!/**_

Throwing all of his magic at once against the doorway, with the shadows finally returned to him, he was finally able to push through it, blowing the wooden door wide-open and off of its hinges, throwing himself out of the Puzzle. The Seal reached Yuugi's feet, and he could already feel his partner losing the will to fight.

 _Not this time. He wasn't losing him again._

' _Partner. It's your turn to fight.'_

Yuugi's eyes opened in shock at the voice of his Other Self, when he was suddenly thrown out of his body and into spirit form. The Pharaoh stood, shivering in his body, his eyes squeezed shut.

' _Other Me—NO! OTHER ME!'_ Yuugi cried, taking a few steps towards the Pharaoh, his hands out, though he was met with the Seal, and he jolted back in shock. His Other Self pushed him back, too, surrounding himself with darkness, and looked back over his shoulder. He smiled out towards Yuugi, and out towards his friends, giving a thumbs-up as the Seal finally closed.

' _I believe in you, Partner.'_ He said, voice warm with affection as Yuugi threw himself at the pillar with the full force of his shoulders, not making a single dent, no matter how hard he tried.

' _OTHER ME! NO_!' Yuugi cried, his voice high with desperation. _'No! NO! PLEASE, NO! PLEASE! You promised you wouldn't go! You PROMISED!'_

The circle glowed, alight on his forehead as a pillar of green light rose from where the Pharaoh stood. The Seal of the Orichalcos was reflected in the air as the Pharaoh looked up at it, seeing the gaping jaws of the Great Leviathan as it eagerly awaited him—one of the few souls that could wield the Gods. He knew that was his fate.

He remembered—only the faintest impression—of staring-down a great beast with three, red eyes and knowing he would die, and knowing he would die because he loved. It was comforting that it was the same.

The Pharaoh only shut his eyes. _'I'm sorry, Partner. I love you too much to let you go.'_

The Millennium Puzzle lifted half-off his chest while the ever-present, subtle gleam of the Eye of Horus shone richly, the mystical light of the Item that always seemed to be on it dulling while its inhabitant was pulled from it. It fell, flat on his chest, becoming nothing more than a hunk of gold.

Yuugi's body, with no soul inside of it, began to fall. Yuugi let it hit the ground when he was pulled-back inside, as he blacked-out.

He came-to with Honda and Jounouchi worried over him.

"Yuugi!" Jou said, propping his head up against his arms, the little King of Games half against him. "Yuugi, come on, open your eyes! Speak to us!"

"Jounouchi...?"

Yuugi slowly opened his eyes, his hands immediately going for the Puzzle. Finding it, fingers curling around it. Probing with his mind, searching for the warmth and life that he had carried with him for almost two years.

Empty. Just a piece of gold.

Useless, gaudy, cold metal. An ugly bauble without _**him**_.

"I knew you could do it!" Jounouchi said brightly, while Yuugi started to sit up. The blonde paused, noticing the slow movements, the shake on the edges of his fingers. Physical exhaustion from an all-night ride, and a Shadow Game on top of the game of the Orichalcos. Emotional exhaustion from...everything else.

"Yuugi?" He asked. "Are you alright?"

Tears welled in Yuugi's eyes, spilling-over his cheeks as everything started to hit him—really started to set-in. His hand refused to leave the Puzzle, squeezing it tighter, some of the pieces loosening under his grasp. He forced himself to let-go of it. He couldn't shatter it. Not without him there. Not if he came back.

He had to come back. _He had to._

"No." He whispered. "No, I'm not."

"Yuugi?" Anzu crouched on his other side, one of her hands finding his. "Yuugi, what's wrong?"

"I can't do this. I can't do this alone." Yuugi choked-out, feelings spilling over without his will, glancing desperately between his friends, hoping any of them would understand. But, how could they? How could he ask them to? _Why was he so selfish...?_

 _It should have been him!_

"Alone?" Honda asked, frowning. "But Yuugi, you're not alone, all of us are right here."

"No!" Yuugi pushed himself out of Jounouchi's grip, but his body stumbled, unused to having so much magic pushed on him, and he fell to his hands and knees. Jounouchi was at his side again in an instant.

"Yuugi, what's going on?"

"It took him!" Yuugi said, tears splashing in the dirt, as one of his hands rose to his face, wiping his cheeks with the heel of his palm while sobs wracked his body. "I was the one who did all of those awful things, but it took him! It took him, and he went-away and left me _behind!"_

"Took who?" Jounouchi asked. "Yuugi? Who did he take!"

"He took the Other Me!" Saying the words made it real, made him unable to live in shock any longer. His shoulder crumbled as he held the Puzzle tighter to his chest with one hand, grabbing his bangs with the other.

He couldn't do this alone, he'd never done this alone. Even when he was separated from his Other Self before, he could still sense him when the Puzzle was taken-away from him, he could still count on getting his Other Self back. But this wasn't his Puzzle chained to the wall of the warehouse or taking it off to give to Jounouchi when he was controlled by Malik. The Puzzle was empty, and he was alone—alone up against Dartz, his swordsmen, and the Great Leviathan, after everything he'd done to his monsters.

He was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

 _Why couldn't it have been him?_

"Yuugi..." Honda said, starting to approach him, but Jounouchi touched his shoulder, holding him back with a shake of his head.

"We don't know what he's going through right now." Jounouchi said simply. "None of us can relate to him. The best that we can do right now is to let him grieve, before we get up and keep going."

Honda frowned, and opened his mouth as if he was about to protest, but another look at Jounouchi silenced him, and he looked-away.

* * *

It was an hour before the RV arrived.

In that time, Yuugi's sobs had petered-out into silence, broken only by the occasional shuddering of his shoulders. In truth, it only took him a few minutes to stop crying, but that didn't mean anything was alleviated. No, all it left behind was the crushing feeling of loneliness, the knowledge that, when he was quiet, so was everything else inside of him. As if he had been hollowed-out, leaving half of a person behind.

 _When had it come to be this way?_

Surely, he hadn't always been this way. He _preferred_ the quiet when he was younger. It had been why he had so much trouble making friends. He _liked_ being able to spend time by himself, the ability to gather his thoughts without intrusion. He didn't know when the silence had become suffocating, when the unnatural had become so natural that being alone in his head—the way that a person _should_ be—was so utterly wrong that it made him feel sick at the thought that this could be permanent.

 _ **Why**_ _had it become this way?_

He had no answer to either of them. All he had was silence.

It was Ryuuji who had driven the RV there, loudly proclaiming how grateful that they all should be at how he'd saved their hides, before he got a look at Yuugi, and stopped dead in his words. Honda shook his head before he could ask, and but Rebecca immediately threw open the door, her arms locking around Yuugi who froze-up in her grasp.

"Darling!" She cried. "Darling, what's wrong? Who hurt you? Was it one of Doma's swordsmen?" She asked, before she pulled herself back and got a good look at him.

Yuugi bit his lip. Remembering what he had done this for in the first place as he looked in her face. "Rebecca, I'm...I'm so sorry that I couldn't save your grandpa. We tried to chase Raphael down, but he forced me to play the Seal, and..."

"It's okay!" Rebecca said, grabbing his hands and squeezing them tight. "My grandpa—he came back to me! They brought him back after they got you!"

"They...they did?" Yuugi asked, disbelief hitting him. "But why...?"

"I'm not sure...but it's wonderful, isn't it? My house...we can fix that! It's my grandpa that's important! And now we can stop everyone together!" She threw her arms back around Yuugi, holding him again with a wide smile on her face. "We can save the world!"

 _They brought her grandfather back? Then...he was just a lure, all this time. A lure to get me out. A lure to get the Other Me out. And it worked. It worked because I was stupid and we fell for it_. Yuugi could feel his throat closing again, unshed tears in his eyes as he pulled himself away, confusing Rebecca.

"Yuugi?" She asked. "What's wrong?"

"Now's not the right time." Anzu said. "What we have to do right now is get to work on stopping Doma. Saving everyone is most important."

"Did someone hurt him?" Rebecca demanded, while Yuugi drew himself in more, arms wrapping around his shoulders. "Was it one of those horrible swordsmen?"

"The Other Me." Yuugi said, looking down. "He took the Other Me."

"Another you?" Rebecca asked. "But aren't you Yuugi? What other Yuugi is there?"

It felt like Yuugi couldn't speak. How was he even supposed to begin to explain? Luckily, Jounouchi cut him off. "Anzu is right. Is your grandfather okay?"

"He's resting right now." Rebecca replied with a frown. "But if someone hurt my darling, then I'm going to make him pay!"

"We will." Jounouchi promised, a frown on his lips. "We will make him pay."

Yuugi was silent.

* * *

"Master."

At the end of the long hallway separating the two, Raphael knelt.

"Master, I have done as you asked."

"Indeed." Dartz sat, drink idly tipped towards his lips. "But you have only done it halfway."

"Halfway?"

A single, green eye glimmered, the Orichalcos imprint in his pupil glowing as the immortal turned in his seat, regarding the Guardian Duelist with something akin to amusement, though it was doubtful if he could feel that anymore, if he could truly feel anything anymore. "I forgot to mention that little detail, didn't I? No fault of your own, I suppose. An old man can be forgiven for his follies, can't he?"

Raphael lowered his head further, his stomach twisting as he felt that gaze on him again. That horrific eye—it always made him feel like he was being looked-through, like the Great Leviathan was seeing him through his master's face. Like he was being regarded as a meal every single time his master looked at him. "Of course, master."

"Then you doubt me?"

"No, master."

"Good." Dartz began to walk down the table. "I almost thought you forgot your place."

"Never, master."

Dartz stopped, just before him. Raphael dare not lift his head, for fear of his master's eye, for fear of his master's rage.

"The Pharaoh is two souls, Raphael. One half ancient, one half modern. Go back out there and get me his other half to awaken the Leviathan."

Duel him again? Memories of the first duel hit him. That darkness. So much of it. He had no idea where it came from. How it almost devoured him. "Master—"

"Do you doubt me, Raphael?" Dartz's voice, ever patient, ever smooth, interrupted.

He could feel that eye.

"No, master."

"Of course you don't." His voice was almost a purr. "So, go and take his soul again."

"Yes, master."

* * *

 **A/N:**

And number 3 it is!

Also, if Yuugi seems OOC, that's because he's in shock, as well as in grief over losing his (quite literal) soulmate, and is also feeling the crushing guilt of what he perceives to be losing him by getting him killed with his own actions. On top of that, there was also the temporary release of the piece of Zorc in the Puzzle on his soul, only amplifying his negative emotions and making it worse.

As you can tell, too, Yuugi growing independence will be the story I'm going for. I also added Anzu to the group because she deserves to be there. Hoga and Ryuuzaki will come into play later, and I added the RV so we could get to the plot stuff fast too.

This won't be an exact recreation of Season Four. A lot of stuff will be tweaked and refined along the way.

I really, really enjoyed the engagement, though! Please tell me what you think, and if you have anything you'd like to see! Thank you again!


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